Developmental disabilities (EWPDD) grant

The program assists Ohio employers with ensuring the safety of their staff while serving developmentally disabled children and adults.

BWC uses the Employers Working with Persons with Developmental Disabilities (EWPDD) Grant Program to assist Ohio employers with ensuring the safety of their staff when carrying out the services they provide to developmentally disabled children and adults. The program is available to eligible Ohio employers who wish to purchase training and/or equipment to substantially reduce or eliminate injuries or illnesses associated with working with developmentally disabled children and adults.

As part of the Safety Intervention Grant Program, the EWPDD Grant Program is available only to Ohio employers working with the developmentally disabled population. View the complete policy for the program, otherwise, click on the appropriate link below for the specific information you want. Eligible employers may receive up to $20,000 for the duration of the program. To be eligible, you must meet the following criteria at the time of application.

Be a state-fund private or public employer taxing district.

Work with children/adults with developmental disabilities. All applicants must provide information in their application that clearly describes the services they provide to this population. Eligible employers include, but are not limited to:

County boards of developmental disabilities.

Educational service centers.

School districts.

Private schools.

Other for-profit and not-for-profit organizations providing services to Ohioans with developmental disabilities.

Have active Ohio workers' compensation coverage, and maintain continuous active coverage while participating in the program.

Not have more than 40 days of cumulative lapses in workers' compensation coverage within the prior 12 months.

Timely report actual payroll for the preceding policy year and pay any premium due upon reconciliation of estimated premium and actual premium. We'll deem an employer to have met this requirement if we receive the payroll true-up report and any associated premium before the expiration of any grace period. See the Payroll true-up page for additional information.

Unless otherwise specified here, all application requirements, eligibility, participation criteria, reporting and procedures stated for the Safety Intervention Grants Program apply to applicants and participants of the EWPDD Program.

The employer may propose to purchase equipment or training not included on this list. The employer must first email BWC's Division of Safety & Hygiene, or call 1-800-644-6292 before applying for items not listed.

How to complete the grant application

Complete all sections of the application, budget and statement of agreement. Important: Be sure to read the section below, Additional information on the Budget and Statement of Agreement.

Mail all sections (I - VI) to the address below. Both the Budget and the Statement of Agreement require original signatures. You must include the vendor price quote(s). Please keep a copy for your files.

As a potential safety grant recipient, your business must register as a state supplier and obtain a supplier ID number to receive grant funds. Additionally, you must complete a Request for Taxpayer Identification Number & Certification (W-9) and Authorization Agreement for Direct Deposit of EFT Payments (OBM-4310-Rev.11/1/2011). Both forms are available through the Ohio Supplier Portal.

To obtain a supplier ID number and obtain the two forms mentioned above, please complete the following:

Register in OH|ID by creating an account with a username/password that can be used for the Supplier Portal. Click on Sign Up to set up an account in OH|ID.

OH|ID is the official identity management solution for all State of Ohio systems. OH|ID provides an eight-digit user ID that can be used to access a variety of the state's online applications. It delivers a secure and private experience for users during online interactions with the state.

The Supplier Portal is designed to provide suppliers with convenient access to information about their financial interactions with the State of Ohio. The Supplier Portal is easy to use, accessible across multiple devices (computers, smartphones, and tablets), and efficiently enables self-service functionality.

Note: The information you provide on these forms must match the information you provided under your BWC policy. If your BWC policy information is outdated, you must update it to receive your grant funds.

Additional information on the Budget and Statement of Agreement

Completing the Budget

You must list all items and costs associated with your grant request in the Budget. You must provide equipment price quote(s) from your selected vendor. The price quote(s) must include the vendor's name, address and date of the quote, and a contact name with phone number. Additionally, the quote(s) must include the employer's information with company location.

The Budget and quote detail must match one another. If a cost is not included, it will not be considered.

If you do not include all price quotes, we'll consider your submission incomplete.

You must include price quotes for all items requested in the Budget. Each item description and dollar amount must match the vendor price quotes.

You must include freight and tax in both the budget and price quotes (even if estimated).

All budget lines must multiply across correctly, and the sum in the Total column MUST be correct. In the calculations section, no rounding is allowed. Include all cents.

Budget and Statement of Agreement signatures

The Budget and Statement of Agreement sections require the signature of someone with fiduciary responsibility for the company, employer's legal name, and principal business location.

We must receive the Budget with price quotes and Statement of Agreement with original signatures before we consider your grant request.

Private employers and public employer taxing districts must sign the budget and statement of agreement. This indicates they have primary fiduciary responsibilities under the employer's BWC policy number.

The employer agrees the signer or any other person replacing them in the future will have the authority and responsibility to ensure the employer will fulfill its obligations to BWC for the two years after implementation of the intervention.

Concurrent program participation
Employers may participate in both the current Safety Intervention Grant Program and EWPDD Grant Program.

Process to evaluate and approve your application

Once BWC receives the following items, the application packet will be considered complete and ready for evaluation by the review committee.

The completed question portion of the application (Sections I to IV)

The Statement of Agreement with original signatures

The Budget with original signatures and corresponding vendor quotes

Any additional information provided by the employer including pictures, videos and equipment brochures

The safety grant application packet listed above will be prepared and scheduled for review. A BWC grant coordinator handles the preparation process including review of the BWC policy and employer information to ensure:

All eligibility requirements are met.

The State Vendor ID number is assigned by Ohio Shared Services.

Payroll information is available for review to determine if the grant is a matching grant or not.

Payroll history report for the last three years is available for review.

The BWC grant coordinator assigned to your application will contact you directly throughout the review process to gather missing documents, seek clarification and notify you of the status of your application.

The EWPDD Grant is considered a fast-track application. The application will be reviewed by two members of the review committee who recommend either approval or denial of the application to the Superintendent of the Division of Safety & Hygiene.

Receiving your grant funds

You may only apply for the following items: Ceiling lifts; floor-based lifting devices; ambulation devices; bathing and toileting chairs; hi-low tables; non-violent de-escalation and/or trauma informed care training; Non-violent de-escalation and/or trauma informed care training certification; or multi-sensory environment equipment. You may apply for grant money more than once; however, it cannot exceed the maximum total amount of $20,000 per policy for life of EWPDD Grant Program.

The employer may propose to purchase equipment or training not included on this list. The employer must first email BWC's Division of Safety & Hygiene, or call 1-800-644-6292 before applying for items not listed.

Next steps for approved applicants

BWC requires you to provide a case study one year from the intervention date. Submit the EWPDD Case Study within 30 days of the one-year reporting period. BWC will require employers who fail to adhere to the reporting requirements to reimburse the full amount of the grant.